This article was originally published in SC Daily Gazette.
COLUMBIA – A Pennsylvania billionaire will cover private tuition costs this year for South Carolina students who lost their taxpayer-funded scholarships when the Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional.
A $900,000 donation from Jeff Yass, the co-founder of a global investment firm, will ensure students remain affected by last month’s ruling at their private school at least this semester, the Palmetto Promise Institute announced Thursday.
About 700 students were paying tuition with the state’s aid when the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the payments violated the state constitution’s ban on public funds directly benefiting private education.
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The September 11 ruling came after the first of four $1,500 installments had already been deposited into parents’ accounts, leaving them wondering how to avoid transferring their children to their local public school mid-year. During the program’s first year, only students eligible for Medicaid could participate, making it less likely that their parents could afford private tuition themselves.
“In recent weeks, our hearts have been broken by the stories of low-income families who enrolled in new schools that were a better fit for their children, only to have their scholarships ripped away in the middle of the school year,” Wendy said. Damron, CEO of the Palmetto Promise Institute, which has been the leading proponent of school choice legislation in the state since its founding more than a decade ago.
The conservative think tank not only helped write and successfully push for the law signed last year, but also spread the message through mailers, social media ads and other marketing to educate parents about it and help them comply to register for the program.
So when the ruling immediately ended parents’ ability to use the money for private education, “we felt terrible, just terrible about it,” Damron told the SC Daily Gazette.
So she started making calls: “I didn’t know if I could raise the money, but I had to try,” she said.
Shortly after the ruling, the Catholic Diocese of South Carolina began raising money separately to cover tuition for the 195 students in the program enrolled in its 32 schools statewide.
Between the diocese’s fundraising and Yass’ donation, this semester’s tuition for all students in the program should be covered, Damron said.
The institute works with the Ministry of Education and the company it contracts with to manage parents’ accounts and pay schools directly. The money does not go to the parents.
The donation is a temporary solution. It is unclear what will happen next semester.
Passing a new school choice law that could survive a legal challenge is a top priority for the Legislature’s Republican leaders. But even if they manage to quickly pass a new law after the hearing starts in January, a new trial is all but certain. Whatever happens, it is unlikely that parents will be able to resume their state support for private education before the end of the school year.
The Palmetto Promise Institute will continue to push for a new law early in the session, while recognizing that “we still need to raise another million for January and another million for April,” Damron said.
The ruling only banned private tuition payments. The quarterly allotments of $1,500 – for an annual total of $6,000 – will continue to flow into parents’ accounts.
And parents can still access their accounts through the online portal for direct payments for other approved expenses, such as tutoring, speech therapy and textbooks. They just can’t use it for tuition. And they won’t have access to it at all when their children return to their public schools.
Patrick Kelly of the Palmetto State Teachers Association applauded Yass’ donation. While applauding the ruling, the teacher advocate has repeatedly said something needed to be done so students wouldn’t have to transfer mid-year.
“It is impossible to do anything other than celebrate someone who donates money from their own private wealth to benefit a student’s education,” Kelly said, adding that this has a “more direct impact than trying to influence policy through campaign donations.”
Voters wanted
In Kentucky, one of three states where school choice will be voted on in November, Yass donated $5 million to a political action committee last quarter with ads encouraging voters to approve the measure, the Kentucky Lantern reported this week.
As for a school choice law in South Carolina that can survive a legal challenge, advocates are counting on a new set of judges to rule differently on what the Legislature approves next year. And Kelly said that’s not how the justice system should work.
Both the September 11 ruling and the judges’ refusal to rehear the case were 3-2 partial decisions. Two of the majority judges are retired and will not preside over a future case. The author of the dissent is now the chief justice, who made clear that he believes the grant bills were a constitutional solution.
“That’s not the way the rule of law is supposed to work, by moving judges around,” said Kelly, who teaches high school courses on government and politics. ‘Don’t do it by changing the judge. The words (of the Constitution) are still the same. I cannot support that approach.”
As Justice Gary Hill noted in his majority opinion, Kelly said, the constitutional ban on public funds directly benefiting private education could be eliminated by amending the Constitution.
South Carolina does not allow voter-led referendums. Only the legislature can ask voters whether the state constitution should be amended.
“Put it to the voters,” Kelly said.
Last year, the House approved including a school choice question on next month’s ballot. But the Senate never took up the measure.
If the Legislature passes a similar resolution next year asking voters to amend the Constitution, the question won’t be on the ballot until November 2026. The constitution wouldn’t actually change until 2027 at the earliest, because voters would have to ratify it by the legislature. preference through legislation in the next session.
“It’s unfortunate that we continue to spend time on voucher schemes in South Carolina,” said Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, which challenged last year’s law and will likely challenge the next one.
“Rich people can do whatever they want with their money, and it is his prerogative to help fund private schools,” she said of Yass’ donation. “I wish we in South Carolina could focus on our public institutions. … I wish we would stop attacking them and work on making them stronger.”
State Superintendent Ellen Weaver called the donation a “vital bridge of continuity for beleaguered” families and reiterated that she will work with lawmakers and Governor Henry McMaster to restore the program.
Until that happens, she said, “I pray that even more generous donors will be inspired to step into the gap for these children.”
“I am deeply grateful for this tremendous gift of hope for students left out in the cold by the Supreme Court majority’s flawed decision,” said Weaver, who led the Palmetto Promise Institute before her 2022 election.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. If you have any questions, please contact editor Seanna Adcox: info@scdailygazette.com. Follow SC Daily Gazette on Facebook and X.
